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Northgate Mall


DigitalSky

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I actually think North Duke Mall had 1, b/c I remember thinking it was wierd that 2 such similar stores (aka Piece Goods) were located in the same little mall. Also I believe South Hills Mall in Cary had 1...for some reason I'm thinking the shopping center across Maynard from Cary Town Center, the one with TJ Maxx had a Plej's up until the chain left NC...

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Which mall was onsidered to be the dominant, more popular mall in Durham b4 Southpoint? Was it Northgate or South Square? Aside from different anchors the only difference in stores I recall was South Square having Structure and Abecrombie & Fitch. I'm pretty sure it had Gap like Northgate did. The Sears at Northgate also had a food cart set up by the escalators where they sold popcorn and sodas and stuff that I remember seeing during the '80's. Was South Square more upscale or were they both simply successful regional malls?

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South Square was the more upmarket mall up until Northgate's renovation in the '90s, which brought in a lot of nicer tenants.

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I actually think North Duke Mall had 1, b/c I remember thinking it was wierd that 2 such similar stores (aka Piece Goods) were located in the same little mall. Also I believe South Hills Mall in Cary had 1...for some reason I'm thinking the shopping center across Maynard from Cary Town Center, the one with TJ Maxx had a Plej's up until the chain left NC...

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As a veteran of many, many Piece Goods Shop runs with my mom. I can assure youm they were othing like Plej's. Plej's is more or a bedsheets and towels store and Piece Goods Shop was a fabric and craft shop.

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As a veteran of many, many Piece Goods Shop runs with my mom.  I can assure youm they were othing like Plej's.  Plej's is more or a bedsheets and towels store and Piece Goods Shop was a fabric and craft shop.

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My mom used to love that store.. Peice Goods.. we used to go to the one on Independence, it was a big circular store so I thought it was so cool when i was younger.

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My mom used to love that store.. Piece Goods.. we used to go to the one on Independence, it was a big circular store so I thought it was so cool when i was younger.

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I remember seeing the one on Independence when it converted over to Mae's Fabrics and Crafts. That was a neat building. The ones we used to frequent as a family were more conventional looking.

You're probably too young to remember this, cantnot, but Piece Goods used to have a line of Archie comic books with Christian themes. My brother and I would look through those and listen to the omniprecent Percy Faith strings over the PA while my mom picked out fabric. Looking back on that, it was pretty cool, but I never thought much of it growing up.

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It makes me sad that NorthGate has developed a rep as a dangerous place. We don't go so much anymore (because we don't spend a lot of time in malls generally), but when my kids were younger we spent countless hours there. Our routine was the Scrap Exchange, the Disney Store, the Play House toy store, a couple of the smaller shops, and of course the Carousel. At one time there was a play structure in one of the little side wings beyond the food court, but they took that out for liability reasons. I always thought it was so civilized on a rainy day to be able to sit indoors with a cup of coffee, watch the kids play, and chat with other parents while my wife shopped. Ah, well...

Even though we enjoyed it there, I always thought the layout was all wrong, with the Belk's wing isolated like that. I hope the new renovations will make a difference. I agree with previous posters that the southern part of Durham is the hot address of late, but the demographics of the area around Northgate and its proximity to the highway still make it an ideal reltail location. It would be a big loss for it to go belly-up. :(

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I think I remember that play structure! Wasn't it in the little wing in front of Ruby Tuesday's by the Food Court? By the way the old Disney Store still screams Disney Store, even yrs after it's closure. I think it's only been replaced by a couple of local stores which haven't bothered remodling.

I remember when I was little and I used to ride that kiddie train...I wonder where they are going to put it now? :-/

Also when I was in cub scouts I went to the pine wood derby four years in a row. Every year it was alternated between Northgate and South Square...

Does anyone else remember when there were fireworks at Northgate for July 4th? Seriously my grandparents lived on Leon Street, near where Costcos presently is in Durham and through the '80's you could see the city's fireworks display that they had at Northgate from their backyard. Then I think it was deemed unsafe to have them there, or maybe they just moved them to Duke....

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I lived in Durham for two years (NCSSM) and the Roses used to share a wall with the back side of the dollar store. These went away to make room for the Hechts wing. The EB games, etc. was a newspaper/magazine store, I think. Talking to Durham residents while at school, there used to be a big arcade in the space McDonalds was in by the Carosel. It was closed down because of the death of arcades in the mid 80s and it attracted the "wrong crowd". I thought the kiddy train was down by Belks, but I could be wrong.

A "new" arcade opened a few doors down from Sears, across from Old Navy, in 90-91, but that was gone by the time Old Navy came in, probably part of the Hecth's rennovation.

South Square always seemed "dark" with no natural light the way Crabtree gets, unless that's because I only went at night. The arcade in the food court there was eventually overrun with gangs, and Southpoint's opening led to it's demise. Before the Southpoint Super Target opened, the South Square Super Target was one of the best performing in the *country* some weekends. South Square had the Circuit City and Toys R Us nearby, making it more attractive than Northgate in that reguard.

Neither are in a "bad" part of Durham, but both are very working class -- most high end mall shoppers don't bother to tell the difference.

Also, if it's where I'm thinking of (at the Albemarle Road intersection), the Piece Goods Store on Independence in Charlotte was a car dealership showroom (I think Ford, but not sure), which is why it was round like that. Drivers passing by on the way home could see what shiny new thing just arrived from Detroit. In the early 80s, the complex got the night club, the piece goods shop, a small movie theater, and (why i remember it so well) Chuck E. Cheese. They had all the latest/greatest games, skeeball, the lion elvis impersonator, and probably bad pizza my mom didn't like me eating.

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just took my kid to Northgate for the first time in I don't know how long. Boy, was it depressing. There were SO many stores empty and the whole thing just seems like a shadow of a once-fun place to be.

I hope the renovations bring it back. Not sure adding a "streets" area in between two parking garages will do the triuck, but hope so.

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Yeah, Harris Teeter is still vacant :(

That's sad. I doubt it'd be filled anytime soon.. if it does get filled it might be from a retailer like Fred's or Family Dollar i would think. But i'm sure Eastland's Harris Teeter won't be too different in the near future

Before the Southpoint Super Target opened, the South Square Super Target was one of the best performing in the *country* some weekends.

Also, if it's where I'm thinking of (at the Albemarle Road intersection), the Piece Goods Store on Independence in Charlotte was a car dealership showroom (I think Ford, but not sure), which is why it was round like that. Drivers passing by on the way home could see what shiny new thing just arrived from Detroit. In the early 80s, the complex got the night club, the piece goods shop, a small movie theater, and (why i remember it so well) Chuck E. Cheese. They had all the latest/greatest games, skeeball, the lion elvis impersonator, and probably bad pizza my mom didn't like me eating.

First, very interesting to know about SuperTarget. Though, Durham's got 2 SuperTarget's and Charlotte has 0.. (if you don't count Moresville).. but there are 2 due in 2007 for Clt. Anyway, You might be right about the Peice Goods shop being a car dealership in a previous life, I can see that being plausible. The shopping center with the Chuck E Cheese and (i think former movie theater) is called Redman Square. I believe Chuck E Cheese was Showbiz Pizza in the 80s too.

just took my kid to Northgate for the first time in I don't know how long. Boy, was it depressing. There were SO many stores empty and the whole thing just seems like a shadow of a once-fun place to be.

I hope the renovations bring it back. Not sure adding a "streets" area in between two parking garages will do the triuck, but hope so.

I don't know how much adding the streets section will help this mall but that's sad it's looking even more depressing now. I've only been inside the mall once and seen it from the outside a couple times.

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I think the only thing keeping it alive now is it's existing anchors, Sears and Hechts. Sears is showing it's age on the outside, but on the inside it's modern. I don't think anything has been done to the Sears exterior since it was built in the '60's or '70's. It's very vintage :-p Hechts still looks good inside and out since it's only 10 yrs old. I think Sears is going to stay with Northgate for the long haul. Not sure about when Hecht's becomes Macy's, I suppose it depends on their lease...

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I have a feeling that when that Hechts becomes Macy's it will be one of the lower end Macy's. You know how people say that the quality of Macy's stores vary greatly from mall to mall....

By the way is the wing between Hechts and Sears, including the food court still healthy? That always appeared to be the strongest part of the mall, while the area where they put up the x-mas tree, aka "center court" down to where Belks used to be has been teetering for a few years now...I'm still mourning the loss of the huge Kirklands the mall used to have, it was over twice the size of the average one. It was located in the "teetering" wing though, it only lasted a very few years....

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I have a feeling that when that Hechts becomes Macy's it will be one of the lower end Macy's. You know how people say that the quality of Macy's stores vary greatly from mall to mall....

By the way is the wing between Hechts and Sears, including the food court still healthy? That always appeared to be the strongest part of the mall, while the area where they put up the x-mas tree, aka "center court" down to where Belks used to be has been teetering for a few years now...I'm still mourning the loss of the huge Kirklands the mall used to have, it was over twice the size of the average one. It was located in the "teetering" wing though, it only lasted a very few years....

that wing (Hechts/Sears/Old Navy) seems to be the only part of the mall that is doing well.

the "teetering" wing done tottered; there's hardly anything left down there.

I expect you're right about the "quality" of the macy's given the demographics in that area.

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that wing (Hechts/Sears/Old Navy) seems to be the only part of the mall that is doing well.

the "teetering" wing done tottered; there's hardly anything left down there.

I expect you're right about the "quality" of the macy's given the demographics in that area.

What a sad tale of a dying (?) shopping center- what caused Belk's and other stores to leave- just the glut of newer malls being built in Raleigh/Durham? I went to Northgate 10 years ago and it seemed to be a nice place. Will this mall end up on deadmalls.com or will it just limp along or even thrive again?

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What a sad tale of a dying (?) shopping center- what caused Belk's and other stores to leave- just the glut of newer malls being built in Raleigh/Durham? I went to Northgate 10 years ago and it seemed to be a nice place. Will this mall end up on deadmalls.com or will it just limp along or even thrive again?

Northgate's not really dead, just badly designed. That's what happens when you convert a stip mall into an enclosed mall ;) The Belk wing is too far way from the center of activity, and the stores that were in it wern't worth the trip through the wing.

Hudson Belk really didn't have any business out there; they just took the spot because it was open, and it never did make money. The new theater is a much better idea.

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Northgate's not really dead, just badly designed. That's what happens when you convert a stip mall into an enclosed mall ;) The Belk wing is too far way from the center of activity, and the stores that were in it wern't worth the trip through the wing.

Hudson Belk really didn't have any business out there; they just took the spot because it was open, and it never did make money. The new theater is a much better idea.

It's well located, but very poorly designed, yes. A movie theatre in that location is a good idea, but I think the redesign is more akin to a band-aid on a gaping flesh wound. I think it would be much more successful if they did an Extreme Makeover Mall Edition, a la North Hills, and integrated a much higher denisty and mix of uses designed around street-level activity and interior courtyards, like placing multi-level brownstone-type housing on Club Blvd and Guess Rd., which would provide a nice residential buffer between the mall and the Trinity Park neighborhood, a hotel on top of the movie theatre, and make the rest of the mall multi-level. There's an old mall in Pasadena that was done over that way and is a tremendous success.

The closing of Belk's at Northgate and at University Mall in Chapel Hill was a direct result of the Streets at Southpointe. Both locations consolidated into the new, shiny mall in southern durham, where the demographics and proximity to all that Chapel Hill money makes for better global-scale retailing.

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